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	<title>FrontPage Magazine &#187; Leon Wolf</title>
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		<title>Latest Burma &#8216;Reforms&#8217; Another Farce</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2011/leon-wolf/latest-burma-reforms-another-farce/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=latest-burma-reforms-another-farce</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2011/leon-wolf/latest-burma-reforms-another-farce/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jun 2011 04:05:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Leon Wolf]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=96523</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Why recently announced free press policy changes are meaningless. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Censored.gif"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-96528" title="Censored" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Censored.gif" alt="" width="375" height="275" /></a></p>
<p>While much ink has been spilled in the Western press about Russia’s worrisome attempts to reassert its influence over the former satellite republics of the USSR, relatively little attention has been paid to the extent to which the People’s Republic of China remains a malignant leavening force on the entirety of Southeast Asia. The “Republic” of Myanmar is one of the foremost exemplars of this Chinese influence, as the military junta which exercises an iron grip over the populace is both propped up by the PRC government and is insulated from Western pressure or sanctions by the same.</p>
<p>In an indication that the Burmese government is feeling some pressure to at least put on a show that democratic reforms are taking place, the government <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g79DlKcj3N4vYg1O-HGSkz_xSrxw?docId=CNG.fbec89d1617bd62a55b6d7f687c79964.461">announced last weekend</a> that it was relaxing its rigid censorship rules on the press. A closer look at Myanmar’s announced policy, however, indicates that the proposed reforms – like the alleged elections of a civilian government earlier this year &#8212; are almost entirely illusory (emphasis added):</p>
<blockquote><p>Myanmar media reacted with caution on Saturday after the country announced a slight easing of repressive censorship rules for some publications, but kept its tight grip on news titles.</p>
<p><em>Sports journals, entertainment magazines, fairytales and the winning lottery numbers</em> will not need to have prior approval from the information ministry before they are printed, publishers were told at a meeting on Wednesday.</p>
<p>However, officials said these <em>titles would still be scrutinised before they go on sale.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>What a huge leap towards democracy – newspapers in Myanmar can now publish the winning lottery numbers without checking with the government censor first. Of course, the real trap here is that even the superfluous and non-political sections of the paper will still be censored, they just won’t be censored <em>before printing</em>.</p>
<p>Under the current system, newspapers must submit all copy to the government’s information ministry before printing in order to prevent the newspapers from saying anything whatsoever critical of the government, which is prohibited by law. Under the new system, the newspapers can print without checking with the government first, but if the government inspects them after publication and finds the pieces unsatisfactory, the reporters in question can simply be jailed. Given that the Burmese government currently holds roughly three dozen members of the media in prison for writing pieces that displeased the Myanmar government, one can be sure that only reporters who are ready to serve a lengthy prison sentence will risk even the most mildly critical article about the ruling government.</p>
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		<title>Islamism Rising in Malaysia</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2011/leon-wolf/islamism-rising-in-malaysia/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=islamism-rising-in-malaysia</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2011/leon-wolf/islamism-rising-in-malaysia/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:07:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Leon Wolf]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Afternoon Edition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=96173</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What the country's radical Islamic party presents to the Western press is nothing like what it actually stands for. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/malaysian-muslim-women-calling-for-an-end-to-polygamy.gif"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-96176" title="malaysian-muslim-women-calling-for-an-end-to-polygamy" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/malaysian-muslim-women-calling-for-an-end-to-polygamy.gif" alt="" width="375" height="272" /></a></p>
<p>Long-time observers of American politics are no doubt used to American politicians who say one thing and yet mean something completely different. A favorite and well-known trick of politicians of both parties is to run as a doctrinaire conservative/liberal in the primaries and a moderate in the general elections. To most politicians, this sort of duplicity comes as naturally as breathing. Many Muslim politicians – in the few functioning Democracies in the Muslim world &#8212; engage in the exact same song and dance, stoking the fires of extremism back home while presenting a smiling face of moderation to the West, a practice which is expressly condoned by the Muslim doctrine of <em>taqiyya</em>. And yet, the few media outlets which cover the region to the West act as though the claims of these dissembling politicians simply <em>must</em> be true, when they would afford no such latitude to Democrats or (especially) Republicans.</p>
<p>{{{*}}}</p>
<p>The latest example of this phenomenon can be found in Malaysia, where the extreme Islamist party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) is attempting to unseat the moderate UMNO party and its governing coalition in Malaysia’s parliament. Prior to, say, last month, PAS was open about wanting to restore an extremist form of Sharia law on Malaysia, complete with subjugation of women and oppression of religious minorities. For decades Malaysians (of whom the vast majority are Muslims) have enjoyed peace and prosperous trade with United States and other Western nations, and have rejected PAS’s siren call of extremism, repeatedly giving UMNO a super-majority in Malaysia’s parliament. However, in 2008, for the first time, the UMNO-led coalition failed to secure over 2/3 of the seats in Malaysia’s parliament, and PAS smelled blood in the water.</p>
<p>In a clear example of <em>taqiyya </em>in action, PAS last week suddenly performed a public about-face and declared they were no longer in favor of establishing an Islamic state in Malaysia. With a wink of an eye, the hard-line clerics who ruled the party were replaced with moderate-looking businessmen in nice suits, and PAS announced that from henceforth they were solely interested in being good leftist Muslims. This rank and transparent deception was repeated credulously by <a href="http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/seasia/malaysias-islamist-opposition-party-turns-moderate/445295">many news organizations that cover the area</a>. For instance, note the following from <em>Jakarta Today </em>(emphasis added):</p>
<blockquote><p>Malaysia&#8217;s main Islamist opposition party turned in a moderate direction at its annual congress over the weekend, dropping demands to make the country into an Islamic state in exchange for a platform pushing for a &#8220;welfare state,&#8221; and electing a new more secular leadership.</p>
<p>Instead of Islamic clerics dominating the top positions in Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) like in the past, four of its five executive leaders are now men with secular educations.</p>
<p>Party president Hadi Awang, at the three-day meeting that ended Sunday, said PAS now prefers to talk about a state that looks after the poor and needy, rather than an Islamic state.</p>
<p>**snip**</p>
<p>PAS, the country&#8217;s second-biggest political party after UMNO, has in the past frightened off non-Muslims, and even urban Muslims, with its plans to turn Malaysia into its version of an Islamic state. Gleaned from its rule in Kelantan and Terengganu states, this meant issuing strict Islamic edicts like those ordering separate cashier queues in supermarkets for men and women.</p>
<p>But in its effort to woo non-Muslim voters, PAS has been toning down its image as a fundamentalist party.</p>
<p>The image makeover was cemented by the vote over the weekend.</p>
<p>Of the five men in executive roles, now only Hadi Awang wears the Arabic turban and Arabic robes. His deputy and the three vice-presidents elected last Saturday don regular shirts and trousers, and speak about corruption and inclusiveness without the heavy language of religion that put off non-Muslims.</p></blockquote>
<p>Oh, well, I guess if the radical Muslims say they aren’t radical anymore, <a href="http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=3236&amp;Itemid=178">we have to believe them, right</a> (at least according to <em>IntellAsia</em>)? Certainly it has never happened that a radical American politician has suddenly professed to embrace moderation for the sake of getting elected – other than every Democrat who has run for president in the last 40 years, that is.</p>
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